Oktoberfest München — 2007

The lid relief depicts Mariana Marchesa Florenzi (1802-1870) and is the fourth in a series taken from the Schönheitengalerie (Gallery of Beauties), thirty-six portraits of beautiful women gathered by Bavarian King Ludwig I in the southern pavilion of Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, where they remain on display today. Ludwig met the Marchesa Florenzi during a visit to Italy in 1821, after which they became lifetime friends, exchanging thousands of letters and meeting on a regular basis. Original portrait by court painter Joseph Karl Stieler.